A file rendering of Forest City’s 690 Pohukaina project in Kakaako showed what the building may have looked like at 650 feet. The project, which will top out at 418 feet, may also include a school.

Forest City’s $500 million 690 Pohukaina mixed-use project in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood, one of the first projects out of the gate at the start of the current condominium boom, could include a public elementary school, the head of the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of the area told PBN.

Anthony Ching, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, recently told PBN that the 690 Pohukaina project will include a mix of uses, including market-rate rentals, below market-rate rentals — and perhaps an educational component.

Ching declined to go more into detail regarding a school site at 690 Pohukaina, although the Kakaako area, which will gain thousands of new residents in at least a dozen or so condos being built in the coming years, will likely need more schools.

Seagulls Schools plans to build a new preschool campus in Kakaako near the intersection of Kelikoi and Cooke streets that may include kindergarten through third grade classes as well, as first reported by PBN. The “Kakaako First School” is expected to start construction in the middle of this year.

Linda Schatz, development manager for Forest City, recently told PBN that its 690 Pohukaina project, which at one time was to include the state’s tallest building at 650 feet but will top out at 418 feet according to local laws, is still in the discussion phase with the HCDA.

“[We are] working things out with the HCDA,” she said. “We want to get something done soon, like in a year.”

Schatz referred comment regarding the prospects of including a school as part of the project to the HCDA.

Forest City has said its the 690 Pohukaina project would include 800 rental units, including both affordable and market-rate units.

In late 2012, the HCDA selected Forest City to develop 690 Pohukaina, which is to be built on state land under a 65-year ground lease. During that time, Forest City and the HCDA began an 18-month development process, which includes doing an environmental assessment, that ended in May 2014.

A rendering of Forest City Hawaii’s 690 Pohukaina project in Honolulu.

A rendering of Forest City Hawaii’s 690 Pohukaina project in Honolulu.

A rendering of Forest City Hawaii’s 690 Pohukaina project in Honolulu.

It’s been about a year since the developer of the 690 Pohukaina mixed-use project in Kakaako, which would be Hawaii’s tallest building at 650 feet, made any major moves.

In May 2013, Forest City Hawaii, which had been selected by the Hawaii Community Development Authority to develop the parcel on Pohukaina Street, announced that it had chosen Honolulu’s Nordic PCL Construction Inc. as the general contractor for the $500 million project. Additionally, Honolulu-based Ben Woo Architects LLC was chosen as its local architecture firm for the 800-unit rental project, which will include affordable and market-rate units.

Forest City Hawaii President Jon Wallenstrom has not returned several messages left by PBN.

But the HCDA, which oversees the developer of the growing Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, told PBN, through a spokeswoman, that it has not yet received an application from Forest City for a development permit for the project.

Lindsey Doi, spokeswoman for the state agency, said that last she heard was that the developer was still working out financing and other issues.

What’s more, is that given the passage this year of House Bill 1866(Act 61), which limits building heights in Kakaako to no higher than 418 feet, the project is still in the discussion phase between the state agency and the developer.

The 690 Pohukaina project was one of the first residential condominium projects announced at the start of the current Kakaako condo boom.

Since then, there have been several projects that have passed the Forest City project on the road to development, including Alexander & Baldwin’s The Collection, Stanford Carr and Kamehameha Schools’ Keahou Lane, The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Anaha and Waiea towers and Downtown Capital and Tradewind Capital’s 801 South Street project, just to name a few.

In December 2012, the HCDA unanimously selected Forest City Hawaii to develop 690 Pohukaina, which would be built on state land under a 65-year ground lease.

During that time, Forest City and the HCDA began an 18-month development process, which includes conducting an environmental assessment.

Hawaii developer Stanford Carr’s $70 million, 204 affordable rental project in Kakaako, Halekauwila Place, is scheduled to be completed in March, the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of the Honolulu neighborhood said Thursday.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority said it provided gap financing for construction of the project, which will have rents that range in price from $956 a month for a studio to $1,389 a month for a three-bedroom unit.

The units are available to tenants making less than 60 percent of the area median income in Honolulu, or about $36,000 to $41,000 a year for a single person, the HCDA said.

The project is being financed through three separate sources, including $25 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through PNC Bank, $28 million through the issuance of low-income tax credits and $17 million from subordinate gap financing from the HCDA.

Halekauwila Place is considered the first phase of the 690 Pohukaina project, which will include a workforce housing component that targets people who earn up to 140 percent of area median income.

Interested applicants can contact the leasing company and get more information through the Halekauwila Place website.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority has scheduled public hearings in March and April for two planned Kakaako residential projects that sit on the same parcel.

One is at 500 South St. — Hawaii developer Stanford Carr’s Keauhou Lane project — and the other is at 500 Keawe St. — Oregon-based developer Gerding Edlen’s project.

The first public hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 19, will give developers an opportunity to officially present their plans.

The second hearing, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, April, will give the public another opportunity to voice their opinions about the project with the possibility of the HCDA making a decision at that time.

Both hearings will take place at the HCDA’s office at 461 Cooke St. in Honolulu.

The request is for a joint development permit for two separate mixed-use residential, commercial/retail development projects being built at the same time by Carr and Gerding Edlen.

Keauhou Lane’s portion of the project includes a mix of 388 residential units, which will have one-, two- and three-bedroom units in a 400-foot high-rise building, along with a mix of 35 townhouse units that will have two- and three-bedroom units in a 42-foot mid-rise tower, as well as 2,854 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 1,038 square feet of vehicle stalls in a 72-foot parking structure, about 13,000 square feet of open space and 31,400 square feet of recreation space.

The Gerding Edlen project, which is being developed on behalf of landowner Kamehameha Schools, includes a mix of 209 residential units that will have studio, one- and two-bedroom units in a 65-foot mid-rise building, 39,145 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, four loading stalls, about 13,600 square feet of open space and 11,500 square feet of recreation space.

Off-street parking for the project is expected to be provided in a parking podium constructed as part of the Keauhou Lane development with facilities such as loading areas, open space and recreation space being shared between both projects.

Keauhou Lane is requesting a modification from the Mauka Area Rules to increase the podium’s height to about 72 feet and cause a partial obstruction of the South Street view corridor.

Gerding Edlen is asking for a modification from the same rules to increase the podium’s height to about 65 feet

Forest City Hawaii has chosen Honoluluâs Nordic PCL Construction Inc. as the general contractor for the $500 million 690 Pohukaina mixed-use project in Kakaako.

Forest City Hawaii has chosen Honolulu’s Nordic PCL Construction Inc. as the general contractor for the $500 million 690 Pohukaina mixed-use project in Kakaako, which may include Hawaii’s tallest building at 650 feet.

James Ramirez, a vice president for Forest City Hawaii, told PBN that, in addition to Nordic PCL, it has chosen Honolulu-based Benjamin Woo Architects LLC as its local architecture firm for the 800-unit rental project, which will include affordable and market-rate units.

In December, the Hawaii Community Development Authority unanimously selected Forest City Hawaii to develop the project, which will be built on state land under a 65-year ground lease.

Forest City and the HCDA are in the midst of an 18-month development process, which includes an conducting an environmental assessment.

Forest City Hawaii has chosen Honoluluâs Nordic PCL Construction Inc. as the general contractor for the $500 million 690 Pohukaina mixed-use project in Kakaako.

HAWAII AMERICANA REALTY

For the past 14 years, Mark G. Howard has practiced his skills as a licensed Realtor in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada and now Principal Broker & President of 'Hawaii Americana Realty', in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has gained a competitive edge in the real estate market by earning his status as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR).